Thoughts

Father Time, a figure usually associated with ushering out the old year, is given a new job in this year’s First Calgary Savings RSP advertising campaign and his new job is aging people. TV, radio, print, online banner ads, in-branch posters, and direct mail all poke fun at the common signs of aging, like getting wrinkles or losing hair.

Karo was featured in a recent “Cool Spaces” segment on City TV. Karo Environments Director, Keith Moe, was the perfect choice to take City TV on an office tour—after all, he designed the office space when Karo moved into the building in 2005.

The people of Karo Group have come together to make a difference in the lives of children in developing countries. We have participated in the “One Laptop Per Child” (OLPC) initiative to provide school-age children with laptop computers.

This holiday season Karo decided to bring a little magic to children who will be in the hospital during the Christmas season.

This holiday season Karo once again experienced the thrill of giving—2,000+ cans of food to the Calgary Food Bank. Staff members in the Calgary office joined forces to build an 8-foot Christmas tree out of carefully stacked cans

The merit of running ads for needy causes has never been questioned. But when Calgary-based Homefront (a support agency for those affected by domestic violence), chose to run an outdoor campaign, they knew they were courting controversy.

In an interview on CBC, prior to the unveiling of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Mascots, Karo’s Director of Customer Experience Strategy, Anson Lee, suggested that a good mascot ought to pass the “what exactly is that?” test and, in an uncomplicated way, reflect the kind of place the games are being held.

Canada Post has launched a real store on the virtual 3-D world of Second Life, demonstrating the sorts of opportunities that exist on the hugely popular website. Now, online shoppers can shop for real merchandise with Canada Post’s retail partners at Second Life.

How do you promote the excitement of a wild, anything-can-happen yearly event like the Calgary Stampede using the mostly static medium of a billboard? This was the challenge Karo faced during a recent campaign. Karo decided to represent the thrills of the Stampede through animated stories on tri-vision billboards as one part of its strategy—and the results ignited a lot of interest in the creative community.

Buyers and sellers have E-Bay and Pay Pal, and in the last couple of years sites like Zopa and Prosper bring together borrowers and lenders on the internet. The idea is borrowers pay less interest than they would at the bank and lenders make more than if they were saving at the bank.